ebbf’s 28th annual conference | 17th to 20th of May 2018 – Geneva

We live in exciting times, the crossing point in the transition towards new forms of enterprises and of evolving economic systems. The future is most uncertain, with the only certainty being change, an accelerating rate of change. We don’t wish to be simple spectators, instead protagonists of the new forms of enterprises and economic systems where we will enjoy creating a more prosperous, just and sustainable civilization.

To help us manage the future we will explore together over the four days of this event, the best new forms of governance that are emerging both in enterprises and in society. We will co-create new thinking and new ideas that will allow us to create shared prosperity through adaptive organizations.

We aim to understand, explore and design future forms of governance, holistic ones that will allow individuals the freedom to develop their human capacities and talents. Free and happy human resources motivated by a superior purpose that create the kinds of successful organizations, products, services, learning and experiences able to generate shared prosperity, serving the enduring interests of all people.

We seeks to challenge the myths that make our governance systems so dysfunctional, and in a spirit of genuine enquiry and truth seeking, contribute toward a set of principles that foster unity and guide us toward operational models that promote the development of just, prosperous and sustainable businesses and society.

This four day ebbf annual conference, our 28th edition starts at 17:00 on Thursday 17th of May 2018and ends after lunch on Sunday 20th,in Geneva at the Best Western Chavannes De Bogis.

Speakers

AUGUSTO LOPEZ-CLAROS

.What are the governance systems that will allow us to build a just, fair and sustainable global economic system?.

Enjoying a one-year research sabbatical leave Augusto Lopez-Claros works at the World Bank as Director of the Global Indicators Group in DEC, the unit leading the Bank’s research and analytical work.

The Indicators Group is the department responsible for the Bank’s Doing Business report and other international benchmarking studies.

Previously he was Chief Economist and Director of the Global Competitiveness Program at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, where he was also the Editor of the Global Competitiveness Report, the Forum’s flagship publication, as well as a number of regional economic reports.

He was educated in England and the United States, receiving a diploma in Mathematical Statistics from Cambridge University and a PhD in Economics from Duke University. In 2007 he was a coeditor of The International Monetary System, the IMF, and the G-20: A Great Transformation in the Making? and The Humanitarian Response Index: Measuring Commitment to Best Practice, both published by Palgrave. He was the editor of The Innovation for Development Report 2010–2011: Innovation as a Driver of Productivity and Economic Growth, published by Palgrave in November 2010. More recent publications include: “Fiscal Challenges After the Global Financial Crisis: A Survey of Key Issues” (2014), “Removing Impediments to Sustainable Economic Development: The Case of Corruption” (2015) and “The Moral Dimension of the Fight Against Corruption” (2017).

SEAN HINTON

.How we address governance says a huge amount about our implicit conceptual framework and our assumptions about the nature of man. When we reach for incentives we say we think man is intrinsically greedy and driven by self interest. But what we are assuming about power, motivation, the potential of education, the nature of the human spirit are displayed in how we regulate governance.What are the assumptions about human beings that will allow us to create the best forms of governance?

.

Sean Hinton joined the Open Society Foundations in September 2015 as Chief Executive Officer of the Soros Economic Development Fund and Director of the Economic Advancement Program

Prior to this, Hinton was principal of Terbish Partners, which he founded in 2007 to provide strategic advisory services focusing on China, Mongolia, and Africa and the social and economic impact of large-scale extractive investments. He was a long-term senior advisor to Goldman Sachs (Asia) and the Rio Tinto group. His other roles have included: deputy chairman of SouthGobi Resources; special advisor to the CEO of SOHO China; and chairman of China Networks.

Hinton has over 25 years of experience in China and Mongolia, where he lived from 1988 to 1995. He subsequently served as Mongolia’s first honorary consul-general in Australia.

Hinton began his career as a consultant at McKinsey & Company as a specialist in their media and entertainment practice. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the University of Cambridge, and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a Henry Crown fellow of the Aspen Institute, and serves on the board of the Natural Resources Governance Institute and the international advisory board of the Baha’i Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland.

JENNA NICHOLAS.How are the new forms of finance, such as impact investing, crowd financing affecting the relationships and priorities of stakeholders and how is governance then evolving in companies and organizations?.

Jenna is the CEO of Impact Experience which facilitates convenings that build lasting relationships between investors, philanthropists, innovators, and leaders of marginalized communities — linking vision with action and directing investment to the most vulnerable communities.

Some of these issues include generating employment in marginalized communities such as retraining former coal miners in Appalachia; attracting greater pools of capital to minority and women run businesses and addressing health disparities. Jenna is also President of Phoenix Global Impact, a firm that specializes in impact investing, social entrepreneurship and strategic philanthropy. Through her firm, she has project managed Divest-Invest Philanthropy, a coalition of philanthropic foundations, divesting from investments in fossil fuels and reinvesting in new economy solutions. Jenna spoke at TedX Portland about the Divest-Invest work.

Jenna has also worked with the World Bank Treasury on green bonds and other sustainability projects and with Toniic helping to support an impact investing community. She has worked closely with the Calvert Special Equities team and is an advisor to the Nexus Global Youth Summit and Ethic, an online impact investing platform. Jenna graduated from Stanford University with an International Relations Honors Degree during which time she also read International Development at Oxford University. Jenna is a Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA graduate, is a PD Soros Fellow for New Americans and recipient of the Stanford Social Innovation Fellowship. Jenna has also been selected as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. Jenna has special links with China and co-taught a course at Tsinghua School of Economics and Management on Business Ethics, Sustainability and Impact Investing. She is an active member of the Bahá’í Faith.

NADJA SCHNETZLER.

I am exploring new forms of governance for companies with the new Republik Magazine a new open-source cooperative business model that rethinks the entire concept of governance, I would like to explore what we learnt with you..

Owner of «Word and Deed», and Co-Founder at Project R & Republik Magazine, reclaiming journalism as profession creating a new business model for media companies that want to place their readers at the center. It is structured as an open-source cooperative, where they share their knowledge, software and business insights with others who also want to create journalism projects that reinforce democracy.

Her motto is “How can I inspire you?,” as she wants companies, teams and individuals to approach innovation, collaboration and communication in new ways that are fit for the challenges of the future.

Schnetzler lives in Biel/Bienne, a bilingual city in Switzerland, with her family. She works with individuals, small teams, NGOs and big corporations on all continents. To inspire others, she searches for inspiration herself every day, in every field, using all tools and gadgets available to the curious digital nomad, and sharing her findings with her large network.

Schnetzler also has a very big passion for Baroque Music, Mexican Cuisine (as she grew up in Mexico) and her blog, Hands Off Parenting.

LARS SUDMANN

New governance: the need for frameworks and leadership

In a complex and changing environment, the traditional approach of leadership may be inadequate.How to build new frameworks and how to lead and connect and empower, be it for setting the strategy as well as in day-to-day interactions.

Lars is an advisor, keynote speaker and executive trainer on leadership, strategy, change and communication for global corporations and their leaders. He is the owner of Sudmann & Company, a consulting and management training network. Lars is drawing on his business experience (e.g. as CFO Belgium of Procter & Gamble) as well as consulting expertise with Fortune500 companies to help companies achieve better business and organizational results.

Lars Sudmann supports executive teams in times of change, strategic redirection, performance improvement, and turnaround both as an advisor as well as an operational/interim manager.

Additionally, Lars spends his time analyzing what makes businesses and individuals successful, e.g. as lecturer at the universities of Braunschweig (business leadership), Lüneburg (organizational change & virtual teams) as well as the RWTH Aachen University (innovation in communication).

He also frequently shares these insights at conferences worldwide and is the 6-times Belgian and 2-times European Champion of Public Speaking and you can watch his appearance at TEDx

DESSI DIMITROVA

Dessi Dimitrova, PhD is an Associate Director for Health Systems at the World Economic Forum. Prior to the Forum, she served as Deputy Minister of Health and chair of the National Health Insurance Fund in Bulgaria where she managed the country’s health financing portfolio and led the pricing negotiations with provides. Before this role Dessislava was at McKinsey & Co, the World Bank and the Brookings Institution (R4D) focusing on health insurance, mostly in emerging markets. Dessi holds a BA in Economics from Bowdoin College, MPA in Economic Policy from Princeton University and PhD in health management from Sofia University. Her professional passion is on finding innovative ways to deliver and finance universal healthcare.

ALEX INCHBALD

How can we tap into our inner artist and the creativity and courage that brings us to implement new forms of governance in our organizations?

Alex Inchbald – extreme artist and innovation specialistAlex Inchbald paints in extreme locations all over the world to explore what it takes to be creative everywhere: from the Olympic Downhill above Sochi, Russia to The Matterhorn, above Zermatt, Switzerland. From Mont Blanc, France to Mount Fuji, Japan – from over 3000 metres to gails of over 50 mph to snowy blizzards. These extreme experiments have led Alex to conclude:

— All breakthroughs by artists, athletes, scientists and entrepreneurs occur in the same creative zone;— Everyone was born with the same ability to access this creative zone;— Visionary leaders unleash their creative spirit to such an extent the whole world becomes a blank canvas and they can create whatever they choose.

Between 2016 and 2018 alone, Alex has helped over one hundred executives and a dozen teams to articulate their purpose. He has enabled:

— Leaders to find harmony, avoid divorce, escape depression, and become CEOs;— Teams to become more purposeful, productive, profitable, and resilient;— Organizations to reinvent themselves, discover meaning and direction;— Consortiums to launch that will impact the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

Alex is a cofounder of Creative Leadership Partners and lives with his beautiful wife and young family in the French Alps, just outside Geneva.

MONESHIA ZU EITZ

Re-thinking Governance in the Corporate WorldDo corporate insitutions and governance need to evolve as society becomes increasingly inclusive of diversity? Can tech saavy, values-driven indviduals still ascribe to current definitions of profit seeking enterprises? Is it possible to link individual authenticity to static organizational goals? And what role does private enterprise have, by virtue of the human and capital resources it yields- in shaping the global society in which it operates?

Moneshia has 25 years of experience in M&A, Alliances and Venture Investing working as a strategic management consultant, corporate development professional and strategic investor in IT and healthcare.

She most recently lead the Strategy, Alliances and Venturing team for Royal Philips Healthtech, and prior to that spent 15 years acquiring companies to drive development of new business models at IBM.

With a passion for inorganic value creation for superior performance, Moneshia has directly worked on identifying, acquiring, divesting and integrating over 30 small and medium sized companies including in India, Africa, Europe, Japan and the US . As part of bringing people and processes together in pro-bono she also worked in economic justice as part of IBMs Executive Service Corp in Taiwan, and Michael Porter’s Forestry sector team in Venezuela.

Moneshia completed her MBA at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania and undergraduate degree in Economics from Smith College. She has lived in many of the countries in which she has worked and is an active Womens and STEM mentor, Alumni network activator, and advisor to social start ups with a global footprint.

OSCAR ROSA

Promoting collective prosperityOscar Mendez Rosa is founder of soul.com. His work has always been guided by two fundamental concepts: the spiritual reality of men and the inherent nobility of human beings.

At an early age, Oscar has been dedicating his energies to building communities and contributing to collective well-being and prosperity. He has worked in over 40 countries in four continents and has interacted with people from different cultures. He has been trained in The Netherlands in communication and design and has more than 20 years of experience in business and large corporations.

His passion is to develop a deeper understanding of the nature of transforming companies into communities and how this comes about. At soul.com he is therefore carrying out research in different fields of knowledge, including religion, philosophy, business, social studies, and economics. Oscar loves to help people elevate their view on reality so that their inner volition is unlocked to contribute to a more prosperous and just society.

SILVIA FERLITO

Silvia Ferlito is a Business Economist by education and has 17 years of finance experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Her work in finance was always accompanied with her interest to deeper understand human behavior and change patterns. This led her to study and become a Stress & Mental Coach and Trainer, supporting people in finding their strengths, releasing stress and activating hidden resources.

Today she can combine both backgrounds to lead initiatives at work in the finance area around mindset change, Capacity Building and trust based communication.

After her graduation Silvia spent one year in Australia and New Zealand and has since then traveled the globe. During a sabbatical she spend some time in South America and engaged in a humanitarian mission in Cochabamba Bolivia. Her high level of drive and energy leads her to find new projects to inspire and support people as well as find places to explore and learn from.

GUITELLE SABETI

Dr. Guitelle Sabeti has over 25 years experience in global health, with a focus on international pharmaceutical policies, good governance and strategic engagement with health partners. She negotiated and provided country support to over 50 Ministries of Health, Civil Society Organizations and development partners. She holds a Masters degree and a Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Grenoble as well as a Masters in Public Health from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. She started her carrier in 1991 in Romania working with Pharmaciens Sans Frontières and joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1994 where she served in different locations and capacities. One of her achievements includes the initiation and development of the first global programme aimed at promoting good governance and preventing corruption in public pharmaceutical systems, by increasing transparency, accountability and promoting ethical practices. This programme is currently running in over 30 countries. Guitelle currently manages official relations with selected governments and represents WHO in political forums such as the G7 and G20

JAMES JENNINGS

James has over 25 years experience as an executive and consultant helping companies grow faster. Of the many methods he has used, the most exciting are those that engage all employees in financial management, creating more sustainable and higher performance enterprise.

MALIKA PARENT

From Anti-Corruption preaching to corruption fighting, I am committed in developing institutional accountability framework embracing soft and hard components of Fraud and Corruption prevention and control.

With 30 years of experience in the Humanitarian sector, at senior management level, I have actively contributed to strategic development, policy creation & implementation, network empowerment and compliance enforcement requiring travel to 90+ countries on all continents.

EOIN MCCARTHY

Eoin McCarthy is part of the leadership group at Quakers and Business. Over 30 years, Eoin consulted and coached In Europe, the Middle East, the USA and China. He is an experienced Chairman, non-executive director, and CEO, with over 30 years boardroom service with seven organizations. He participated in, or led six successful start-ups. Eoin is a certified deliverer of ethicability® masterclasses, Myers Briggs, Steps I & II; Leadership Development Framework; and regularly uses discernments from Enneagram in the Worldwide Tradition in his work. As founding MD of the Aston Reinvestment Trust, and in other roles, Eoin worked during 10 years with Sir Adrian Cadbury, Chair of The Cadbury Report on Corporate Governance 1992.

SARAH JAMES WRIGHT

I’m a co-founder of GenerativeWork.Space, which develops new approaches to conscious leadership and culture through coaching, training and facilitation. A regular contributor to Conscious Business platforms, I have a deep belief that organisations can serve the whole of life: individuals, communities and ecosystems. GenerativeWork draws on Systemic Coaching, Organisational Constellations, Theory U and Mindfulness Practices to inspire and support life-affirming action in work. A key aspect of this approach is the capacity to hold difficult or uncertain spaces and an ability to read the dynamics live in the room to cultivate trust and allow new possibilities to be created.

I have been a Systemic Coach and Facilitator since 2008, following a 20 year career in Marketing and Stakeholder Engagement. I’ve held a particular interest in working with entrepreneurs and social or environmental purpose organisations but feel the key shift now is for all business to have a deeper awareness of its purpose and impact. I was a founding Director of Forest Row Energy Co-operative Ltd, a community energy company.

CARMEN PIPOLA

Carmen Pipola is a 100 % entrepreneur. She started her career in the finance/accounting sector. Having worked for Ernst & Young – she soon became a young CFO of a shipping company – leading branches in Greece, Iran, UK, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, USA, Turkey and India. In 1994 she started her entrepreneurship with the first acquisition of a chemical production company (www.loba.ch). In 2001 she opened her own tax consultancy office near Basel which she sold successfully in 2015 in order to become a consultant for entrepreneurs. On her journey she developed her expertise through different seminars and courses focussing on organisational development, transformation coaching and spiritual healing. Her main ambition is to support entrepreneurs to live their values and to be successful. She is a certified Master trainer in systemic constellation work that she has used since 20 years in different projects for her clients. She will demonstrate the power of this tool in her workshop

KURT SPECHT

After more than two decades of managing and leading change in information technology projects I focus on facilitating organizational evolution and creating change leaders. My interest is in the facilitating aspects of technology serving not only as Information Technology but also as Institutional Technology such as the blockchain that has the potential to enable organizational transformation. Being a Firewalking Trainer since many years I give management and leadership seminars for enterprises.

JELENA HERCBERGA

I’m a PhD researcher at the University of Bristol. My doctoral research aims to provide insight into emerging alternative modes of human organising – those which might broadly be described as processes and forms of self-organisation. Among other things, I am interested in re-imagining democratic practices within business and in wider collective to bring together people across difference.

IKO CONGO

Iko Congo has been involved with ebbf since 2013. After a period of service at the Baha’i World Centre, the spiritual and administrative centre of the worldwide Baha’i community, he studied Business Administration at Lancaster University graduating with first honours.For the past 5 years he has been participating and facilitating courses of the Ruhi Institute which propel the process of community building, and associated process of learning of how to contribute to the advancement of civilization, which the worldwide Baha’i community is dedicated to.He was an avid participant of the seminars of the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity, worked for Aldi UK and is currently undertaking a Master’s in Politics, Philosophy and Management at Lancaster University after which he will move to Angola to work for McKinsey & Company.Iko, with a group of friends, is looking at how to elevate the field of business by exploring its intellectual foundations.

SANA ZAREEY

Sana Zareey serves as Vice Principal of Nancy Campbell Academy, a Baha’i-inspired International school located in Stratford, Ontario. His passion for education began while working as an electrical engineer when he became an animator of the Junior Youth Empowerment Program. Serving as a leader of youth he became deeply moved by the empowerment process possible through education and decided to change professions. Sana pursued his Bachelor of Education and then a Master of Arts in Social Justice, Equity and Social Science Education from the University of Toronto. His Master’s research studied the impact of race and class on the course “choices” among junior youth aged students in Toronto. His research helped support the growing body of knowledge that suggests that classes with mixed abilities benefit all learners, both advanced and those who are struggling. Sana’s electrical engineering degree from Western University, combined with both his education degrees makes him an excellent teacher of mathematics, sciences, and computer studies. After graduating, Sana created curriculum at OISE to help new teachers learn how to thoughtfully integrate technology into their classrooms, and trained 300 new teachers in these methods. He also was asked to serve the Baha’i training institute in Zambia where he piloted the Statistics Recording Program in rural areas, helping to shed light on the educational process being implemented at the grassroots. Sana looks forward to a career that continues to focus on creating empowering educational environments for youth from all backgrounds.

CHRISTOPHER COOKE

Christopher’s overarching purpose is: to enable human emergence, in support of one viable planet, where humanity chooses to be the guardian of effective ecosystem processes.Recognised for his pioneering international application of Integral theory and practice since 1998, Christopher facilitates, coaches, educates, and advises thought leaders who recognise that to thrive on this planet requires a major leap to more complexity-aware thinking.The good news is that this more integral / holistic, complexity-aware, capacity has been mapped scientifically, as emerging for the past 100 years, and that a primary task of governance is to learn to utilise it! Most forms of current governance exclude and remove any signs!As a co-founder of 3LM, the Savory Network hub for the British Isles, Christopher’s aim is to release a natural societal shift to regenerative food and fibre. This is being achieved through holistically oriented practice and policy. Why use the term holistic? Because this communicates that this new thinking, which appreciates how nature functions in wholes, is latent in our species and that we are literally learning to utilise this new self awareness and collective meaning making capacity that is naturally ethical for all-of-life!

MAJA GROFF

Maja Groff is an international lawyer based in The Hague, assisting in the development and servicing of international multilateral treaties, working with diverse governments around the world. She works on existing and potential global treaties addressing areas of child law, issues disproportionately affecting women (including violence against women and human trafficking), persons with disabilities, access to legal information and other topics. She conducts liaison work with international professional associations, NGOs and other international organisations (including various U.N. bodies), and has played a key role in the co-ordination of a range of international conferences and expert groups. She contributes to a process of facilitating dialogue and legal cooperation with countries with or influenced by Islamic legal traditions. She holds degrees from McGill (civil law and common law), Oxford (M.Sc.) and Harvard Universities (A.B.), and is an attorney admitted to practice in the state of New York. She serves on the United Nations Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and is a member of the Advisory Boards of BCorp Europe and ebbf, organisations devoted to ethical business.

MAHMUD SAMANDARI

Mahmud Samandari is a coach for startups at the Swiss Federal Commission for Technology and Innovation, CTI. He is also the CEO of InnovaRadio, as well as a member of the Advisory Board of COMPASS – Evidence and opportunities for responsible innovation in SMEs, Horizon 2020 Cooperation and Support Action. He is a founder of EBBF, member of the Board and its Secretary General. He is a serial entrepreneur, having started companies in the fields of IT, telecommunications and education both in Europe and Latin America.

WENDI MOMEN

A founder member of the ebbf and a social activist working for the betterment of humanity. Wendi Momen’s key focus is on the advancement of women and their participation in decision-making at all levels, on sustainable living and on social justice. She is Secretary-General of ebbf, board member of UN Women UK National Committee, a Trustee of the Multi-Faith Centre at the University of Derby, Trustee of the Bedford Council of Faiths, a Non-Executive Director of NHS Bedfordshire, co-founder of Advance and a board member of Naserian.

Program 17th to 20th May

DAY 1 – THURSDAY

program starts at 17:00 and ends at 21:30

Opening session:

The journey begins – a welcome to the conference and information about how you can make the most of this four day ebbf learning experience

Includes an introduction to your personal hosts who will accompany you on this journey, and a welcome from ebbf’s chair Wendi Momen.

Presenting the event dynamic, the harvesting and exchanging of ideas that will take place, creating a dynamic of interaction with people at and outside the event.

Opening Keynote

Malika Parent“Governance as a path to truth”

How can we build governance systems in our organizations that will be based upon and foster a culture of truth? How can society be impacted by this new form of governance? What I learnt and what remains to be discovered.

Post Keynote Meaningful Conversations

Following the first keynote we start the first meaningful conversations, taking those sparks of inspiration, going deeper into what they mean to us, to our workplaces and/or to the creation of new economic systems.

In this session you decide which of the questions sparked by the keynote you wish to address, or create a table to have other like-minded individuals in the room join an exploration of your own question.

After dinner keynote

Nadja Schnetzer

Governance for Purpose – how can we build companies that cannot be hijacked by interests we do not share?

By building a media company which has as its highest goal to defend the independence of the editorial team with all means possible, I learned a lot about how to build a company that cannot be taken over by absentee owners or interests that could harm the purpose of the company and about how the members of the team work together by experimenting with new forms of governance.

Interactive session using the event learning guide

Stopping to think and discuss the key questions, the key ideas, the most important insights from this first day and the thinking process it has sparked in us as we compare our will to act with the often challenging workplaces we wish to influence.

A final session to get to know more about who is there

One of the most important resource you will have available during the course of this learning event, is the people who attend.

An extremely diverse group of individuals coming from all parts of the world that are united by a common passion, similar to yours: exploring ways in which to positively influence our workplaces and economic systems.

Getting to know more about who you are surrounded by, will allow you to find the individual and start the kind of meaningful conversation that is what usually brings about the most important changes in people’s work and lives at ebbf events.

DAY 2 – FRIDAY

program starts at 09:00 and ends at 21:30

Welcome to Friday:

Introducing you to what you can expect in this second day of the conference.

After enjoying a breakfast and conversations enjoying the rich diversity of participants, surrounded by the relaxing lake-side natural beauty,we get you in the right frame of mind with a program engaging your eyes, ears and mind with a morning inspirationalfollowed by an introduction to the day and to the parallel sessions that you can choose from this morning and afternoon.

Morning keynote

James Jennings

“Aligned Human Networks”

10 years ago, James started using open-book management, a governance model that embodies the values of justice, equity and human nobility. Far more than radical transparency, open-book teaches universal financial literacy so that everyone can speak the same language. It unifies goals, engages employees in the management of the company and shares the rewards of success. The hard outcomes are growth and profitability. The harder to quantify benefits are greater collaboration, engagement, ethical behavior and sustainability.

Post Keynote Meaningful Conversations

Following this keynote that opened our mind to the opportunities that new forms of governance can bring to our organizations, we use those sparks of inspiration, going deeper into what they mean to us, to our workplaces and/or to the creation of new economic systems.

In this session you decide which of the questions sparked by the keynote you wish to address, or create a table to have other like-minded individuals in the room to join an exploration of your own question.

These will allow you to interactively explore five avenues to deepen your understanding, the role and application of diversity in structuring and living prosperity-creating organizations.

Lunch and introduction to the afternoon

Enjoy a great combination of food and meaningful conversations to relax or to spark new ideas.You will then be introduced to the afternoon parallel sessions and to how you can use this afternoon program and your interactive learning guide.

ebbf annual general meeting

how can the theme of this event – rethinking governance – allow ebbf, a global organization spread in over 50 countries, to learn, evolve and engage its global community?What can we all learn from the evolving shape and impact of an organization like ebbf?

You will experience an interactive large group consultation, that will show how to engage communities into meaningful action.Well beyond an Annual General Meeting, this will be an AGM meaning Annual Generation of Momentum and AGC Annual General Consultation.As part of ebbf’s focus on being a learning community, we will be creating the future opportunities of this organization, addressing practical issues, interacting with operational teams and creating the space for new ideas to emerge.

Afternoon keynote

Jenna Nicholas

How are new forms finance influencing governance?

How are the new forms of finance, such as impact investing, crowd financing, crowd lending and the divest invest movement affecting the relationships and priorities of stakeholders? How is governance thus evolving in companies and organizations?

These will allow you to interactively explore five avenues that will allow you to better understand the role and application of diversity in structuring and living prosperity-creating organizations.

After Dinner keynote

Sean Hinton

Human-Centred Governance

How we address governance says a huge amount about our implicit conceptual framework and our assumptions about the nature of man. When we reach for incentives we say we think man is intrinsically greedy and driven by self interest. But what we are assuming about power, motivation, the potential of education, the nature of the human spirit are displayed in how we regulate governance.What are the assumptions about human beings that will allow us to create the best forms of governance?

DAY 3 – SATURDAY

program starts at 09:00 and ends at 21:30

Welcome to Saturday:

Introducing you to what you can expect in this third day of the event.

Enjoying worthwhile conversations over breakfast, then viewing a morning inspirational and being introduced by what you can expect today: a great way to start this third day of the event.

Morning keynote

Lars Sudmann

New governance: the need for frameworks and leadership

In a complex and changing environment, the traditional approach of leadership may be inadequate.We do need a deeper understanding of how to build new frameworks and how to lead and connect and empower.We have to practice a different approach to organizations and need to revisit the skill-sets of leaders, be it for setting the strategy as well as in day-to-day interactions.

Post Keynote Meaningful Conversations

We now bring the new insights sparked by the keynote into what co-creation processes can create, to our workplaces and/or to the creation of new economic systems.

In this session you decide which of the questions sparked by the keynote you wish to address, or create a table to have other like-minded individuals in the room to join an exploration of your own question.

Morning – Choose one from these five Parallel Learnshops

This morning you will be able to choose between experiencing one from five parallel sessions, (see details here)

These will allow you to interactively explore ways to apply diverse ideas and cultures in your organization and life.

Lunch and introduction to the afternoon

Enjoy “food for thought” continuing your meaningful conversations, interacting informally with speakers and participants.You will then be introduced to the afternoon parallel sessions and to how you can use this afternoon program and your interactive learning guide.

Afternoon keynote

Wendi Momen, Daniel Truran, Maja Groff

What happens when you put a feminine leader into a governance structure?

An innovative three-way keynote to show how to bring the gender and diversity of views and working into liberating and empowering governance models.

Open Space exploration

now it is time for you to decide what, right now, is most important for you to address

We have created for you a facilitated open space session, where you can now call attention to what you now wish to address and find individuals who will engage with you exploring a new idea, or addressing the issue that has come up for you to solve. Here is where you determine the program and where you get most value from the great array of speakers and participants there around you.

After dinner keynote

Augusto Lopez-Claros

Global Governance in the 21st Century: The Future at Risk?

The design of a governance system that will lay a foundation for peace and prosperity for the world has been the subject of much creative thinking over the centuries. Despite some achievements, our progress has been chaotic and uneven and has left many behind. In some areas, such as our global politics and the essential nature of our world order, we are today at a critical crossroads. What do we need to do to set ourselves on a path of unsurpassed achievements and development?

DAY 4 – SUNDAY

program starts at 09:30 and ends at 13:00

Welcome to Sunday:Bringing the learning to your workplace tomorrow

Introducing you to what you can expect in this last day, the most important of the conference.

After enjoying the views, the conversations and your breakfast we offer you a morning inspirational and then introduce you to the key moment of the event, the last part where we hear a few last inspirational talks, harvest the learning and create a clear path of action to be truly prepared to impact our workplaces upon our return next week

Morning keynote

Alex Inchbald

Using the artist inside you, to bring the future of governance to your workplace

Taking what you have learned during this conference back to your workplace will take courage. You will need to tap into the artist inside you. Alex will explain how his experiences painting in extreme locations around the world can help you now.

He will share his Legacy Diamond framework which places purpose at the heart of everything we do and enables leaders and their teams in leading organisations around the world to leave the legacy they were born to create.

In this thought-provoking and uplifting speech Alex will use stories about art to:

— Explain how creativity emerges in the stillness amidst the tension of opposites;— Describe what leaders, teams and organisations can learn from nature to get into creative flow all the time;— Explore the real reason why Michelangelo left a legacy in his lifetime and Van Gogh didn’t;— Describe the miraculous metaphysical relationship between the individual and their environment;— Explain how each of us can find the artist inside us;— Explore why purpose and belief are the key to creating what you were born to create;— Encourage each of us to explore what we are willing to stand up for.

The interview

We will interview three people who took part in recent ebbf events and ask them“what actually happened to you on Monday, when you returned to your workplace after your last ebbf event experience?”

An interactive session giving you a real sense for how to best prepare and harness the energy and ideas of this four day experience, enjoying a beautiful transition into your own workplace on Monday.

Closing Keynote

Arthur Dahl

what are the new governance models that are supporting SDGs?

Participants now become the protagonists

As a participant you will soon be leaving this beautiful setting, the trust, encouragement and new ideas and contacts is what you will need to take to your workplace to become the protagonist of the positive change you wish to make.In this final session we will make sure that you are ready and fully prepared to make that impact and to find in these last couple of hours some remaining ideas and connections but also building the post-event continuation that will allow you to keep feeding into the source of inspiration that you found during these three days.

We will also look at all the answers, all the insights, all the harvesting that we have collected and create a guide that will be used to inform and impact the wider global audience of ebbf.

the goodbye lunch

the last lunch is the opportunity to enjoy the final conversations, to make the final connection with the individuals you will want to continue to accompany and to be accompanied in this new page of your life that starts after this transformative and elevating learning event.

Latest News

WHAT WE LEARNT SO FAR

What are the assumptions about human beings that will allow us to build ideal governance structures?With event speaker Sean Hinton, CEO of Soros Foundation

Convince your company and colleagues

9 reasons why people come

01

Because it is an ebbf event.With over 20 speakers and learnshops to choose from, over a three-day ebbf experience,surrounded by like-minded pioneers from around the world with whom to explore without fear nor limitations what will allow ethical business to build the future. Our ethical business.

02

“I invite not only my team but also customers to ebbf learning events because having a shared experience in learning, makes it so much easier to build unity of vision. The result of that is unity of action. Really effective, joyful and a great learning experience.”Sjoerd Luteyn – CEO at Soul.Com, Netherlands

03

“It is a time of profound change for many of the global organisations we work with. Me and team found the ebbf events a rich environment to explore new trends and build ideas on how we can better serve society through the work we do. The diversity of experience and the participants hopeful outlook made this a wonderful opportunity for us to think new thoughts and dream new dreams.”Kami Lamakan – Principal at The Loop, UK

04

To bring back to my workplace fresh, innovative ideas of how to implement successful governance that works for my organization and for myself. Finding people at the event that I can walk that journey with.

05

Because Governance is the pillar that will sustain organizations fit for the 21s century that we should explore.

06

The international spread, quality and passion of the group of like minded people who attend these events. The humble yet determined posture of learning of participants.

07

Because ebbf has been improving its events for over 25 years to create unique interactive learning experiences that elevate our perception of our roles in our workplaces and allow deep and meaningful transformation to occur.

08

“From many different events and conferences I have been on, I have a feeling that ebbf ones have the biggest impact on me. And I was thinking that it is probably because people I meet there share the same values and want to make a difference.”Natalija Gnezdova

09

“It was an amazing conference, the quality is very very high. ebbf is a great soil of cultivating great and inspiring business ideas… I LOVE IT and then put it into practice”Nauman and Anila Hussain

Below the views of just a few of the already registered participants

How we address governance says a huge amount about our implicit conceptual framework and our assumptions about the nature of man. Rethinking the purpose and potential of human beings will allow us to build the right organizational governance

Sean Hinton – UK

Current corporate governance models are ineffective. New forms of governance are needed, but it is not just “forms” that need to be examined – the underlying moral principles of governance should be the foundation of systems of corporate governance. Nabil Elias – USA

Existing forms of governance are disfunctional today and failing to meet public expectations, when not failing completely.

Arthur Dahl – Switzerland

Because humanity and the world deserve better.

Mahmud Samandari – Switzerland

Governance to my mind is not merely intended as a controlling, restricting tool, rather it should become a positive, and spiritually nurturing learning environment, where making sincere mistakes is all right.

Gijs van de Fliert – USA

With the emergence of the new paradigm, organizations need to re design there whole thinking, their new leadership style including a new way of collaboration and working. Governance needs to re designed as well to match the new reality.

Lucienne Koops – Netherlands

We are in a changing world – and for this new world governance needs to be defined in a new way.

Pipola Carmen – Switzerland

All areas of governance feel ripe for un-leveling and expanding into a season where the common good of everyone is safeguarded. Organizations, businesses, agencies, governments are all at a point where the needs of individuals, teams and communities are at a cross-roads.Jaleh Zandieh – Portugal

We’ve done so much progress in many areas of our society, and still organisations are governed following the same old paradigm. It’s time to pause, reflect and rethink what governance is for today’s society.

Laura Zambelli – Italy

The world is in transition from its childhood to its maturity, from a state of disunity to a state of unity. It needs at every level a new form of governance that reflects and responds to that maturity so that peace, prosperity, justice, equality and joy can be established in the world once and for all.

Wendi Momen – UK

We are going through an era of changes that require new forms of leadership.

Xiaoling Zhang – China

The world is changing, the requirements and challenges are different than in the past. In response to that organisations need to change the way things are done, the individual has to adapt new ways of thinking to find better and more sustainable solutions.Silvia Ferlito – Switzerland

I believe the institutions we are workign in are broken and we can find better means, methods and processes by sharing our experience to find solutions to the particular challenges of our organizations and teams

Choose between these parallel sessions

Friday morning learnshops

An interactive learnshop that will allow you to deepen with Nadja Schnetzer the concepts she exposed in her opening keynote.

As you will have heard in her keynote, Nadja decided that quality news has become both scarce and more relevant than ever. She decided to work with a group of the best German-speaking journalists, truly the top national and international writers, to create a new media group.She decided to make this an open-source crowd-sourced cooperative model and she will give us the opportunity to interact with her to learn what kind of governance best adapts and allows this kind of diffused leadership to work.“More self-organised structures are arising. They call for new forms of flexible and open governance, more based on purpose than on structure.How was a new open-source cooperative business model able to rethink the entire concept of governance?”

2. James Jennings

Aligned Human Networks

An interactive learnshop that will allow you to deepen with James the concepts he exposed in his morning keynote.10 years ago, James started using open-book management, a governance model that embodies the values of justice, equity and human nobility. Far more than radical transparency, open-book teaches universal financial literacy so that everyone can speak the same language. It unifies goals, engages employees in the management of the company and shares the rewards of success. The hard outcomes are growth and profitability. The harder to quantify benefits are greater collaboration, engagement, ethical behavior and sustainability.

Accelerating shifts towards globalization and the mix in economic participants (eg: the millennial generation- age 18-35 in that year, are expect to make up to 75% of the global workforce in 2025) is raising questions for corporations on their role in society and how to best govern a diverse workforce.

– What determines the role of private enterprise in empowering diverse human and capital resources, while shaping the global society in which it operates?

– How can large institutions and governance evolve as society becomes increasingly inclusive of diversity?

– And how can tech saavy, values-driven individuals do to contribute to the shift from profit seeking private enterprise to one that actively creates a culture of empowerment?

In this interactive workshop we will explore examples, including Blue Chip organizations grappling with these topics and contemplate key assumptions as leadership of large scale enterprise re think their role and how to bring the concept of diversity and inclusion into practice.

What is the relationship between the individual and governance? What is the responsibility and accountability of the individual?“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Leo Tolstoy. Before everything it becomes imminent that we look inward and start to understand and become aware of our very own capacity to change. “Organisations do not change, people in organisations do”. So what does the individual practically need to make this change happen… to help with the transformation?

“We aim to understand, explore and design future forms of governance, holistic ones that will allow individuals the freedom to develop their human capacities and talents. Free and happy human resources motivated by a superior purpose that create the kinds of successful organizations, products, services, learning and experiences able to generate shared prosperity, serving the enduring interests of all people.”

5. Carmen PipolaSystemic constellation work – a powerful tool to establish new ways of decision-making and action

Every system has its own laws and rules that impact everything. In this workshop you will learn to be aware of these laws. Systemic constellation work is a powerful solution-oriented tool to understand and use the laws constructively to change a system. It supports the opening of human minds and perceptions in order to understand the impact of action and reaction inside a system. Furthermore it helps discovering and resolving the root causes for conflicts in organisations.

You will leave the workshop with a wider understanding for system effectiveness and you get a simple and powerful tool to create an impact. Understanding the system laws will change your behaviour and awareness in your daily life.

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Friday afternoon – parallel sessions

You can now choose between these five interactive learnshops

1. Jenna Nicholas

An interactive learnshop that will allow you to deepen with Jenna the concepts she exposed in her opening keynote

2. Jelena Hercberga

What business can learn from radical democracy?

The economy of the common good as an alternative to neoliberalism has been highly praised for its just, humane, cooperative, ecological and democratic principles of running and organising business.

However, is it really democratic? Is the politics of the common good the way to go if we want to create a more just workplace? What is good?

Your definition of it might be dramatically different from your colleague’s, let alone from the company’s top management’s vision. If we to develop companies that place common good above profits, we need to take into account complexity of this concept. How do we go about it?

The school of radical democracy might be of help. It argues that the common good is not possible as it can never be completely inclusive. Radical democrats suggest that any consensus, that the common good is an example of, is always political, i.e. it represents interests of a certain group of people and excludes others.

Radical democrats put difference and contingency that comes with it at the heart of a political debate. Their approach to creating a just society is through enabling different voices to be heard without prejudice and judgement. Radical democracy sees any knowledge as socially constructed, which challenges the validity of any strict definition and calls for seeing this world, our relations with it, as well as ourselves in it as in an ongoing state of becoming. As such, it is not so much about defining what the common good is, but creating conditions when this common good could be contested and therefore complemented from various positions. And it is not so much about creating new forms of governance and ways of organising, but shifting our perception of how we see the different and the other, both in society, but also in business.

By drawing on the concept of radical democracy, I will explore together with the participants of the conference how principles of contingency and becoming can be applied in the corporate world.

3. Mahmud Samandari

Diffused Governance – improving the governance and interdependence of ebbf’s local activities

Looking at the expansion of ebbf local activities to 15 cities around the world, what have we learnt about the governance of such a diffused system? How can we improve the interactions and interconnections between ebbf’s current local activities and increase their reach?

Traditional command & control top down management styles and approaches do not work well in a decentralized world. In a more and more networked environment with distributed organizations we need to apply decentralized governance models and approaches. It is time to (re-)think governance1 for these networks, organizations and communities and the social impact on the individuals that today mostly still live and adhere to the existing institutional structures.

The governance models for social interactions in such organizational models have yet to be understood, defined and used in practice. In this learnshop we will explore how governance for these emerging networks and organizations relate to core ebbf values (Unity and Moderation) and operational principles (Consultation, Collaboration and Responsibility).

5. Iko Congo

How can we glean insights from the Bahá’i Faith into the field of business and governance?

The scriptures of the Bahá’i Faith, as those of other religions, do not have an exact blueprint we can follow like a recipe of the inner and outer transformation of the different aspects of society, including business, envisaged by its Founders. If this is the case how can we learn about what a religion has to offer to the field of business? We must reflect on the nature of knowledge we need. We need to reflect on the worldview we hold, how it influences what we do and how it gets materialised in the world around us. The workshop is meant to help us learn how to understand the broad sketch we are given by the Bahá’i Teachings and gradually move to a clearer more refined vision of how business can contribute to the betterment of the world.

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Saturday morning – parallel sessions

You can now choose between these five interactive learnshops

1. Lars Sudmann

Governance & Innovation: enabler or barrier

An interactive learnshop designed to deepen our understanding and application of some of the concepts mentioned in the earlier keynote by Lars.

2. Christopher Cooke

From the Soil to the Stomach to the Soul – The Craft of Governance from an Holistic Stance

The holistic worldview – what it means and how it shows naturally in ebbf and how it forms part of a process of the human species re-cognizing the path of spirit and the invitation of communion with Spirit, not as and end but as a start of our species viability; How a process oriented, holistically informed, form of governance provides the opportunity for the release of significant human creativity. How this takes us into a space where no best practice yet exists, yet there are many examples of where an ethical alignment with all aspects of life, has led to outperformance and a regenerative social, economic and ecological legacy. The session will include an interactive whole group experience to allow the audience to explore their own analysis of the deeper dynamics of worldviews and the necessity for new thinking. The learnshop will go deeper into an appreciation of the 4 ecosystem processes that describe how all-life sustains, and how the ability to sense and monitor ecosystem processes may be used to navigate effectively towards ecological outcomes that recover and regenerate life on Earth. Christopher suggests that this work offers a most profound addition to all forms of Quality Assurance.

3. Dessi Dimitrova & Guitelle Baghdadi

Moving towards a values-based discourse on global health

More than nine billion people are anticipated to be living on the planet by 2050, with two billion above the age of 60. To address the challenges inherent in population growth of this scale and to secure the associate health costs, the world would need new business and operating models as well as new investments increasing over time from an initial US$134 billion annually to $371 billion by 2030, according to recent estimates by the World Health Organization. Furthermore, the Commission for Business and Sustainable Development estimates that implementing the health related Sustainable Development Goals would result in a new health and healthcare business opportunity of USD1.8 trillion. This illustrates that there is an unprecedented opportunity to impact the global health and healthcare discourse and ensure that the expected investment results in just and equitable outcomes.

This session will aim at exploring how each practitioner can influence the global health discourse by1) identifying some of the key issues that need to be addressed in the global health discourse (e.g., universal health coverage);2) defining the true obstacles in addressing these issues to improve the health status of humanity in an equitable manner,3) brainstorming new approaches for addressing these issues recognising the main spiritual principles still lack in today’s development endeavours;4) identifying the key stakeholders who would need to be involved to draft and implement the above. Health governance from the community to the global levels will be reviewed as a key enabler to the above issues as well as how values-based decision-making can be encouraged to influence the global health discourse.

4. Sana Zareey

Governance in Education – How to start a Baha’i Inspired School in your community

Thinking about how to embue an social enterprise with spiritual qualities is challenging. Which is why at Nancy Campbell Academy, we challenge our students to start thinking about it in their first year. Creating an environment where this culture can be fostered while still achieving academic excellence has taken 20 years of experience to create, and we’re still learning. This workshop is geared towards those wishing to create a similar environment and the practical steps to creating a spiritual enterprise within Education.

5. Eoin McCarthy and Sarah James

Tools for Better Decisions: How to use Quaker Business Method, Theory U and Systemic Constellations for collective decision-making

Conscious business practice requires us to have regard for the whole of the system and to make decisions that work for the good of all. Yet in many organisations, those with the loudest voices get to call the shots. This 90-minute interactive workshop introduces a blend of time-honoured and modern tools for harvesting collective wisdom. We invite you to bring one of your own current decisions to the session so that we get these support tools off the page and into practice.

Working in small groups, and using Spiral Dynamics as a paradigm, we’ll explore 3 processes that deepen our capacities for working together to help us make better decisions:

• How do I act for the good of the whole? Each group will decide which individual issue they will hold and work on collectively, using tools from the Quaker Business Method. Successfully used in organisations for over 350 years, QBM helps reach decisions that everyone can agree to, without people feeling unheard• Am I listening with open heart, open mind and open will? As each group considers the decision they must make, we’ll practice different levels of listening, as the foundational capacity in Theory U (the latest in business thinking from MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology)• Can we tune in to the collective field? Each group will listen in to the whole system by taking part in Systemic Constellations, a powerful mapping process using embodied intelligence.

We will discover how each of these approaches extends our capacity to listen – to ourselves, to others, and to the whole field of life. We will learn how multi-sensory and multi-dimensional listening can support us to make better decisions, most especially in critical issues of governance that affect the whole organisation.

A Plenary Conversation will conclude our session. What have we seen and experienced that we can take away? What further questions are we holding?

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Conference Prices

The prices below give you access to a full three day event

They include entry to all the over 20 sessions of this global event that ebbf has been repeating and improving for the last 28 years , creating a truly unique learning experience. We keep conference prices to a minimum thanks to generous donations and to ensure as wide an access as possible.

Cancellations received before March 15th: 80% refundCancellations received between March 15th and April 15th – 50% refundCancellations received after April 15th – No refund(don’t forget to check the cancellation fees of the hotel)

Hotel Room / Meals Booking & Rates

Hotel booking - ebbf event Geneva

This form will be sent directly to the hotel who will be dealing with all your room and meal booking enquiries

HOTEL SPECIAL EBBF EVENT RATES

No payment will be due until you arrive at the hotel. (please see hotel conditions below).

Rates are per person per dayFULL BOARD per day / per personSingle Room – 182 Swiss Francs per person / per day(includes rooms and all meals)Shared Twin Room – 135 Swiss Francs per person / per day (includes rooms and all meals)MEALS ONLY per day / per personMeals Only – 69 Swiss Francs per person / per day (only meals no accommodation)

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This information is useful If you wish ebbf to select a like-minded individual to share a room with, if you don't have a room-mate in mind.

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MEALS only, no accommodation required

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Please write here the name of people you might wish to share the twin room with, if no preference is mentioned we will endeavor to match you with a like minded individual you will enjoy sharing the room with.